Lyon Arboretum celebrates Darwins 200th birthday

HONOLULU — The Lyon Arboretum announces two activities to celebrate the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin.

On Thursday, February 12, join us for a slice of birthday cake and an evolutionary tour. The Lyon Arboretum will offer a self-guided tour of some of the key plants in our collections that illustrate evolution in the Hawaiian Islands. There is no fee, but donations are welcome.

On Saturday, February 14 (Valentine‘s Day) from 9:30-11:30 a.m., UH Manoa Professor of Botany, Dr. Mark Merlin, will present a short talk: "Why Charles Darwin Would Have Loved Hawaiʻi" highlighting Charles Darwin‘s theory of evolution through natural selection, with a special emphasis on the Hawaiian biota. The talk will be followed with a short walk through the garden illustrating plant evolution. The fee is $10.

Registration is required. Call 988-0461 to register.

The Lyon Arboretum is open Monday — Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Arboretum is closed on state holidays. Admission to the gardens is free. Donations are gladly accepted. Lyon Arboretum is a 193.5 acre rainforest botanical garden administered by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. For more information on this and other garden activities, visit http://www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum.